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Feature Request: "Sort by" per notebook

Manic Panic

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Manic Panic

Manic Panic 56

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A thing that's been bothering me in this great service ever since I started using it 2 years ago, is that it is not possible to set a sorting order for a specific notebook. To me this seems very basic, so I was very disappointed that it's still not available in the new beta.

I mean, am I the only one who wants my receipts ordered by date and my recipes ordered by title? My family photos ordered by date and my art photos ordered by title?

I do sincerely hope this can be implemented!!

Once again, thanks for the great software.

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MH

MH 4

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Please!! We need this.

Imagine having to choose for one sort method for all the books on your shelf. Of course you expect your phone book to be sorted differently than your agenda, etc. Each notebook is a different book, therefore requires its dedicated sort method.

There are requests on this board from 5 years ago requesting this.

It is six annoying clicks switching between two different notebooks just to adjust the sort. My Inbox I want sorted reverse created and one of my notebooks I want forward by title. And then it is six more clicks to switch back. That's just nuts.

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BugOff

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I. too, requested this option years ago, then waited for years for some action.  I opened my 3rd request ticket earilier this year - they told me to go post a request on ths forum!  On this Forum I learned that the option had been added to Evernote (under Sort there is an "Always use for Notebook  ..." option.  FINALLY, or so I thought...

I just discovered that the option is NOT AVAILABLE in the Phone or Web versions.

As a software developer, I find it rather incredible that the basic features of any software would not be available in all versions!  (If only for ease of S/W maintenance,)

PLEASE ADD THE ABILITY TO SAVE DIFFERENT SORT OPTIONS FOR EACH NOTEBOOK TO ALL VERSIONS

Am I going to have to wait another 4-6 years?

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Pastor Wynn

Pastor Wynn 96

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I understand that the Windows version of EN permits individualizing of the sort order for Notes.  Currently, the Mac versions does not.  If I change the sort order for a Note, it changes it for all notes.

Please bring the individualizing of sorting to Mac.

 

Thanks,
Marty O. Wynn
Columbus, GA

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DTLow

DTLow 5,744

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8 minutes ago, Dick M said:

I would like to see and option to store the order selected for each notebook

I merged your post with an existing discussion for this feature     
To indicate support, use the vote button at the top left of the discussion

Saved sort order was implemented on the Windows platform, but got dropped in the Version 10 implementation

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Paul O'Rear

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I used to love Evernote. I'd like to be able to love it again. But this little annoyance is a perfect example of why it is so difficult to love this app. This requested feature (the ability to sort each notebook's notes differently and have Evernote remember each notebook's sort value) is one of the most basic features possible for any note-organizing app that allows you to organize your individual notes into notebooks.

It makes sense that different notebooks would be used to collect different kinds of notes. If I have a Contacts notebook, where each note represents one person, it would make sense to sort those notes in that notebook alphabetically. Every time I open that notebook I would want to see those sorted alphabetically. If I have another notebook called Daily Journal, where each note is a record of one day's tasks, events, notes, etc., it would make NO sense for those notes to be sorted alphabetically. It WOULD make sense to sort that notebook's notes in reverse chronological order (newest on top) based on the date each note was created. Every time I open that notebook I would want to see those notes in reverse chronological order, without having to reset the sort order every time I open that notebook. This is BASIC note organization stuff, but it's not part of Evernote's feature set.

Looking through this forum's posts, I noticed that this feature has been being requested FOR AT LEAST TEN YEARS! Apparently, according to at least one post, the feature was added at one point (YAY!), and then removed in a subsequent update (BOO!). Seriously?

I'd like to know if this feature is scheduled to be added back to Evernote. If so, when? If not, why not?

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Madeleine Craig

Madeleine Craig 1

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This is exactly the feature request I came here looking for. I mean who in the world thought anybody would want one sort order for every single notebook?!?!?!? This makes absolutely no sense. We should be able to sort by date in one notebook, by title in another and by tags in yet another. By due date if it's a task. Or manually if we choose for a different notebook. 

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GrumpyMonkey

GrumpyMonkey 4,320

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You're not the only one and it's been discussed before, but it doesn't exist at the moment or for that matter in the new Mac beta so I'm guessing if it ever does happen it won't be in the immediate future.

You could be creative with your note titles - for example give your expenses notes a date title like 20121102 which will give you more flexibility.

I would like to be able to assign sort orders to tags and notebooks, but alas, we do not have that. I have to sort my journal entries the same way I sort my meeting notes and research. It is also unfortunate that we do not have a manual sort option. Hopefully, these features will be added in the future.

In the meantime, there are some cool workarounds. With the new Mac beta we have the ability to manually arrange shortcuts, and as far as I know, this is the ONLY place in any client we are allowed to manually arrange things. If you have completed projects (maybe a class you took in 2011) then you can sort those notes as you want, drag them all into an "index" note to create note links, and then put that note into the shortcuts menu wherever you want. Now, whenever you want to see your notes related to that class, you can go immediately to the note and everything will be arranged inside however you like.

Unfortunately, we lost our back/forward buttons with the most recent update, so it may be a little more difficult than usual to navigate those note links, but we are lobbying to get them back :)

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Robert David

Robert David 10

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Former Evernote power user for years. Left because of limitations, and non-responsiveness on product dev to community requests (when they went from v3 to v5).

As a developer decided to do something about my own personal wishlist of features and build my own concept. In early development stages, but perhaps I could launch and implement features such as this. Below is a very early version product demo video. Open to feedback.

 

FlexRM - Flexible relational data manager.

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Scottster

Scottster 2

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I had a little trouble figuring out what @BugOff meant when he said it had been added: it's in the Windows version. 

Here's how to use this feature in Windows:

- in the notebook on which you'd like to change sort order, click the grid dropdown to the left of the search box.  Set your sort order.  Then click at the bottom of the dropdown to set "Always use for Notebook "name-of-notebook."  Then go back to another notebook, and change the sort order back to the default. 

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noblesoul27

noblesoul27 5

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Nearly six months since it appears to be in the Windows version, and I'm here to comment that it is not in the Mac version as far as I can see.

Seems like an odd thing to be missing for feature parity! May it come soon.

But then I've been waiting for years to be able to pin notes and insert/edit URLs on iOS, so I'm not exactly hopeful.

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DTLow

DTLow 5,744

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There is a request posted at the top of the discussion.  
You're welcome to indicate your support using the voting buttons at the top left corner of the discussion.
The vote count is currently 1076785019_ScreenShot2019-03-17at07_25_09.png.584a4ab9921f65ae51c8f15147943619.png

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DTLow

DTLow 5,744

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8 minutes ago, JanW said:

Can we please have individual settings for each notebook, not one setting for all.

I merged the discussions for this feature request.  To indicate your support, use the vote button in the top left corner of the discussion.

fyi  This feature has already been implemented in Evernote/Windows

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Metrodon

Metrodon 2,188

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You're not the only one and it's been discussed before, but it doesn't exist at the moment or for that matter in the new Mac beta so I'm guessing if it ever does happen it won't be in the immediate future.

You could be creative with your note titles - for example give your expenses notes a date title like 20121102 which will give you more flexibility.

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MJNeto

MJNeto 3

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A thing that's been bothering me in this great service ever since I started using it 2 years ago, is that it is not possible to set a sorting order for a specific notebook. To me this seems very basic, so I was very disappointed that it's still not available in the new beta.

I mean, am I the only one who wants my receipts ordered by date and my recipes ordered by title? My family photos ordered by date and my art photos ordered by title?

I do sincerely hope this can be implemented!!

Once again, thanks for the great software.

I second that! It would be very nice if we could choose different sorting criteria according to the Notebooks. In certain cases, it makes more sense to sort by Title, in others by Date Updated. I have to change the "Sort By" every time I change a Notebook...

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jefito

jefito 5,598

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My take on this is that I would rather have sort order be specifiable in the search grammar, so that we could persist them in saved searches. This would allow me to sort notes that go together in an appropriate fashion, whatever notebooks they reside in. if The sticky point for having notebooks be able to specify their sort orders is what do you do if you're displaying notes from two or more notebooks that have different ordering? Fall back to the global sort order, maybe?

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JayF

JayF 30

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I agree with this request. As it is, two command selections are required to switch from Chronological-newest to Title-alphabetical when a new notebook is accessed. The repitition is frustrating and clunky!

More generally, I think that this request, along with others such as the oft-ignored cry for text highlighting in the desktop apps, reflects the immaturity of the EN model. To anticipate its customers' needs, Evernote strategists/roadmappers need to assign a team to move beyond "digital collection and search" to think about interface elements for organizing and synthesizing information for personal knowledge creation.

Despite the work-arounds developed by clever users, these missing elements will in the end relegate EN to serve as an info repository when we need much more from our personal knowlege bases.

I realize such requestsi are not new, but they are worth repeating by paying customers so that EN will eventually decide to allocate resources for relevant future growth.

I'd be glad to volunteer some time to assemble "personal knowledge management" articles if that would help the EN discovery process.

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RubyRed

RubyRed 4

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Congrats. The new Evernote has some great improvements.

Each notebook I manage is used for different purposes. Some are daily to do lists. Others are lists of classes that have titles that help me organize the topics for easy searching. Some notebooks work better when sorted by date, others by title. It would be nice if I set the sort method for a notebook, that it stays that way for that notebook, instead of being applied to every notebook. 

If possible, manual sorting would be amazing. I really appreciate that notebooks can be manually sorted in the sidebar and that it's possible to hide some of the sidebar features I don't use as often. 

 

 

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GrumpyMonkey

GrumpyMonkey 4,320

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Congrats. The new Evernote has some great improvements.

Each notebook I manage is used for different purposes. Some are daily to do lists. Others are lists of classes that have titles that help me organize the topics for easy searching. Some notebooks work better when sorted by date, others by title. It would be nice if I set the sort method for a notebook, that it stays that way for that notebook, instead of being applied to every notebook. 

If possible, manual sorting would be amazing. I really appreciate that notebooks can be manually sorted in the sidebar and that it's possible to hide some of the sidebar features I don't use as often. 

 

Hi. Welcome to the forums. I hope you don't mind if I merge this with one of the existing threads on this topic. This is an oft-requested feature, as is the ability to manually sort. 

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dbvirago

dbvirago 535

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Another vote to sort by notebook. As someone said, notebooks, by design have different purposes, so different sorting makes sense. 

 

Also, as someone else said, the whole sort process is clunky. To change the sort and reverse the order is a whopping 6 clicks. And to have to do this every time you go to a different notebook because you need to switch from title alphabetical to added last to first is frustrating.

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Jay Z.

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Agreed and seconded (second-hundred/thousand-ed?).

 

As implemented in various other apps and OSes such as Mac Finder and Windows Explorer windows, specific and persistent (saved) sorting really is a necessity and would be greatly appreciated and highly utilized. Please please please and as soon as humanly or elephantly possible.

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CaptainTime

CaptainTime 94

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+1. I would also really like it if it kept the sort order when I shared the notebook. This would make Evernote an awesome publishing tool. The inability to control the order of notes when sharing is the only thing holding me back from publishing my time management training manuals using Evernote.

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NanaPam

NanaPam 1

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I'd like to be able to specify a specific sorting method that would affect only the notebook I'm working in. For example, the default sorting I've chosen (date, with newest on top) works fine for most of my notebooks, but I have notebooks that list different categories of ebooks that I've bought. I'd like to sort these notes by name (which is the title of the book).

 

I haven't read all 1500+ posts that mention sorting, so I don't know if this has already been suggested/discussed. Anyone else see a need for notebook-specific sorting?

 

 

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GrumpyMonkey

GrumpyMonkey 4,320

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I'd like to be able to specify a specific sorting method that would affect only the notebook I'm working in. For example, the default sorting I've chosen (date, with newest on top) works fine for most of my notebooks, but I have notebooks that list different categories of ebooks that I've bought. I'd like to sort these notes by name (which is the title of the book).

 

I haven't read all 1500+ posts that mention sorting, so I don't know if this has already been suggested/discussed. Anyone else see a need for notebook-specific sorting?

 

Hi. Welcome to the forums!

 

I've merged your thread with this existing one. As you can see, the answer to your question is "yes." Maybe the explanation of your use case will help convince the developers to introduce this feature.

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jefito

jefito 5,598

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I'd like to be able to specify a specific sorting method that would affect only the notebook I'm working in. For example, the default sorting I've chosen (date, with newest on top) works fine for most of my notebooks, but I have notebooks that list different categories of ebooks that I've bought. I'd like to sort these notes by name (which is the title of the book).

 

I haven't read all 1500+ posts that mention sorting, so I don't know if this has already been suggested/discussed. Anyone else see a need for notebook-specific sorting?

 

A forum search on "notebook sort" turned up several previous topics, including:

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/30959-request-different-notebooks-different-sorting/

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/43739-manual-sort-order-of-notebooks-and-tag-list/

 

Looks like someone found one of them, and added your post.

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GrumpyMonkey

GrumpyMonkey 4,320

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I'd like to be able to specify a specific sorting method that would affect only the notebook I'm working in. For example, the default sorting I've chosen (date, with newest on top) works fine for most of my notebooks, but I have notebooks that list different categories of ebooks that I've bought. I'd like to sort these notes by name (which is the title of the book).

 

I haven't read all 1500+ posts that mention sorting, so I don't know if this has already been suggested/discussed. Anyone else see a need for notebook-specific sorting?

 

A forum search on "notebook sort" turned up several previous topics, including:

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/30959-request-different-notebooks-different-sorting/

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/43739-manual-sort-order-of-notebooks-and-tag-list/

 

Looks like someone found one of them, and added your post.

 

 

Sniped you are, I am afraid :)

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GrumpyMonkey

GrumpyMonkey 4,320

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Sniped you are, I am afraid :)

We're sniping right & left this morning!

 

 

Are you snowed in as well? LOL. The streets didn't get plowed all morning out here.

 

So, where do my fellow evangelists stand on this feature suggestion? Personally, it doesn't matter much to me, because I only have one main notebook. However, for users with a lot of notebooks, I could see this as a very helpful feature. Why not have it as an option?

 

Then again, I'm still waiting on Mac and iOS for more sort options (Windows still has the most).

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BurgersNFries

BurgersNFries 2,407

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Are you snowed in as well? LOL. The streets didn't get plowed all morning out here.

So, where do my fellow evangelists stand on this feature suggestion? Personally, it doesn't matter much to me, because I only have one main notebook. However, for users with a lot of notebooks, I could see this as a very helpful feature. Why not have it as an option?

Then again, I'm still waiting on Mac and iOS for more sort options (Windows still has the most).

Not snowed in. Doesn't happen often in the desert. ;-)

WRT the feature request, I don't have a problem with the way things work now. IMO, it's NBD to sort the results pane differently, when I need to. I do think Jeff pointed out a reasonable concern...that when one notebook is sorted one way & another notebook sorted another way & the search results include notes from both notebooks, what to do? Sure, EN could add all kinds of flags & options, but I think they still try to stay as basic/simple/straight forward as possible. I think that also makes it easier to deal with the multi-platform issues.

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GrumpyMonkey

GrumpyMonkey 4,320

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Are you snowed in as well? LOL. The streets didn't get plowed all morning out here.

So, where do my fellow evangelists stand on this feature suggestion? Personally, it doesn't matter much to me, because I only have one main notebook. However, for users with a lot of notebooks, I could see this as a very helpful feature. Why not have it as an option?

Then again, I'm still waiting on Mac and iOS for more sort options (Windows still has the most).

Not snowed in. Doesn't happen often in the desert. ;-)

WRT the feature request, I don't have a problem with the way things work now. IMO, it's NBD to sort the results pane differently, when I need to. I do think Jeff pointed out a reasonable concern...that when one notebook is sorted one way & another notebook sorted another way & the search results include notes from both notebooks, what to do? Sure, EN could add all kinds of flags & options, but I think they still try to stay as basic/simple/straight forward as possible. I think that also makes it easier to deal with the multi-platform issues.

 

 

Yeah. If we're talking about sorting, I'd say I am far more interested in having additional sort options. As a Windows user, you don't have to worry about this :)

 

It is good to remind people that they can open up the app in multiple windows, so notebooks can be sorted different ways for each window. It's probably not ideal for some users, but it is workable. 

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jefito

jefito 5,598

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Are you snowed in as well? LOL. The streets didn't get plowed all morning out here.

I'm not snowed in, though we got about 6" of pretty fluffy stuff. But it's bitterly cold and we have a frozen pipe situation affecting one room. A good thing I didn't go into work this morning (conditions weren't great).

 

So, where do my fellow evangelists stand on this feature suggestion? Personally, it doesn't matter much to me, because I only have one main notebook. However, for users with a lot of notebooks, I could see this as a very helpful feature. Why not have it as an option?

Personally, I've never needed individual notebook sort orders, though I guess I can see the case for it. It's not wholly clean, because there's got to be some known behavior when notes from multiple, differently sorted notebooks are shown together, but maybe that just goes to the default.
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jbenson2

jbenson2 2,149

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Are you snowed in as well? LOL. The streets didn't get plowed all morning out here.

 

 

I had coffee with some friends at the local restaurant this morning. We shared some laughs over how the media is reporting Armageddon and the "end times" on the East coast. Here in Minnesota, we won't see the daily high reaching zero anytime in the near future. No big deal for us.

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megsaint

megsaint 441

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Not snowed in, though my city doesn't seem to plow streets anymore. I drive a car with a manual transmission. Snow doesn't bother me much.

Yes, I'd like different sort options for different notebooks AND more sort options!

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jshud3

jshud3 0

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I am very much in favor of setting a sort order of notes on a per notebook basis!  I want to sort one notebook one way and another notebook another way!  Evernote is a great piece of software and this one change will march it toward more greatness!  Keep up the good work.

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jefito

jefito 5,598

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One way to do this is to open different notebooks in different Evernote windows. Sorting can be different in each window.

I don't think that that's the case, at least using the Evernote Windows client. You can open up notes in separate windows, not notebooks. Or are you referring to a different Evernote client? The web client, perhaps?

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pmcnamee

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I don't think that that's the case, at least using the Evernote Windows client. You can open up notes in separate windows, not notebooks. Or are you referring to a different Evernote client? The web client, perhaps?

 

 

I'm referring to the Evernote Mac client. If I do File -> New Evernote Window I can open a different notebook in the new window and set the sort option independently of the first window. I haven't used the Windows client, but apparently it doesn't work the same way.

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megsaint

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I'm referring to the Evernote Mac client. If I do File -> New Evernote Window I can open a different notebook in the new window and set the sort option independently of the first window. I haven't used the Windows client, but apparently it doesn't work the same way.

 

 

Cool. Never noticed you could do that before. 

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jefito

jefito 5,598

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I don't think that that's the case, at least using the Evernote Windows client. You can open up notes in separate windows, not notebooks. Or are you referring to a different Evernote client? The web client, perhaps?

 

I'm referring to the Evernote Mac client. If I do File -> New Evernote Window I can open a different notebook in the new window and set the sort option independently of the first window. I haven't used the Windows client, but apparently it doesn't work the same way.

Ah, well that explains it. The various clients do behave differently in some cases.
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RMember

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I too believe that to allow different sorting methods for each notebook should be a basic functionality.  While there are a few squirrely ways to work around this, that is just what they are:  squirrely work-arounds.

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Michael Liston

Michael Liston 2

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+1 to this!

 

My own (selfish) use case:

I use numerical prefixes to index topics, projects, etc. as notes in my "to-do/projects/GTD" notebook. It makes sense to sort that one by title, with the snippet view. My scrapbook of visual design resources, on the other hand, works much better sorted by date updated, in a card view.

 

It's far from a dealbreaker. But being able to either set a default, or just have a persistent memory for the last settings used on a per notebook basis would be a welcome refinement, IMHO.

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AK7

AK7 9

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Please do this.

 

A contacts notebook should be organized alphabetically. A diary notebook should be organized chronologically by when the note was created. A project notebook should be organized chronologically by when the note was updated.

 

It's a pointless bother having to do the adjustment manually and detracts from the seamless experience that Evernote, usually successfully, strives to offer.

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Frank.dg

Frank.dg 1,385

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A contacts notebook should be organized alphabetically. A diary notebook should be organized chronologically by when the note was created. A project notebook should be organized chronologically by when the note was updated.

 

It's a pointless bother having to do the adjustment manually and detracts from the seamless experience that Evernote, usually successfully, strives to offer.

 

In theory, Evernote remembering the sort order for specific notebooks sounds wonderful. But here's the thing…

The effort required when shifting your frame of mind to the preset sort order of a new notebook selected would be about the same as manually resorting. For this type of workflow to be as effective as one imagines, it would require you to remember the preset sort order for each notebook you select and move back and forth between.

An interesting consideration would be the following: I, too, have specific notebooks that I predominantly need to view sorted by "Title". However, just as often, I need to sort the notes within the exact same notebooks by "Date Updated" or "Date Created". I'm sure most people need to do this at one point or another.

So let's say you have a notebook which you generally view according to a preset "Title" sort order... but on occasion, having manually sorted it by "Date Updated", you leave the notebook and select another. When you return to the previous notebook which was preset to "Title" but was subsequently manually changed to a different sort order, Evernote will most likely remember the last sort order for that notebook, which might not be the one you most commonly view that particular notebook in. So then you would have to change it back to your general sorting preference for that notebook anyway. Even if it reverted back to a fixed preset sort order, regardless of how you manually sorted it the previous time you viewed it, that could potentially be frustrating if on that particular occasion you were doing some admin, going back and forth between notebooks and needed a sort order other than by "Title"... i.e. - If you needed it to stick to, say, "Date Updated" on that particular occasion across multiple notebooks.

I think, for many people, myself included, it would be simpler to remember the global sort order you are in at any given time, and adjust it from there as needed.

Not to mention people who have a tag-based setup as opposed to a notebook-based setup... or even a hybrid. To be consistent across the board… would we not need to preset sorting orders for specific tag contexts, then, too? Even so, would we remember our preset sort orders for every tag or notebook context?

So from my perspective, once again, it sounds great in theory… but how this sort of feature would actually play out might not be worth the trouble.

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JMichaelTX

JMichaelTX 4,118

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Please do this.

 

A contacts notebook should be organized alphabetically. A diary notebook should be organized chronologically by when the note was created. A project notebook should be organized chronologically by when the note was updated.

 

It's a pointless bother having to do the adjustment manually and detracts from the seamless experience that Evernote, usually successfully, strives to offer.

 

I agree this would be very useful.  I would imagine the examples you cite to be quite common.

 

I would also find it very useful to include a multi-level sort order in Saved Searches.

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JMichaelTX

JMichaelTX 4,118

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Evernote... I beg of you... please don't. Not ever. That would have other repercussions as mentioned here:

 

 https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/30959-request-different-notebooks-different-sorting/page-2#entry337541

 

Wow Frank!  You're acting like it would be the end of the world!!   :lol:

 

I really don't see the the mental anguish that you do:  "The effort required when shifting your frame of mind to the preset sort order of a new notebook selected would be about the same as manually resorting"

 

It would be easy enough to display the sort order, and even make it easier to change, like with a  simple dropdown list that shows the both the field and direction, like:     ↑ Title

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Frank.dg

Frank.dg 1,385

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Evernote... I beg of you... please don't. Not ever. That would have other repercussions as mentioned here:

 

 https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/30959-request-different-notebooks-different-sorting/page-2#entry337541

 

Wow Frank!  You're acting like it would be the end of the world!!   :lol:

 

I really don't see the the mental anguish that you do:  "The effort required when shifting your frame of mind to the preset sort order of a new notebook selected would be about the same as manually resorting"

 

It would be easy enough to display the sort order, and even make it easier to change, like with a  simple dropdown list that shows the both the field and direction, like:     ↑ Title

 

 

:P  That was supposed to come off as melodramatic... 'twas designed to provoke a response. No mental anguish on my side. Just kicking the topic around a bit. Still, you must admit, I've got some good points there...

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JMichaelTX

JMichaelTX 4,118

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 Still, you must admit, I've got some good points there...

 

 

Actually, I don't.   :P

 

I think you are way over-thinking this, imagining a problem that isn't there.  ;)

 

BTW, here's another example how you could easily see and change the Sort Order.

Just click on the field to sort on it, click again to change the sort direction (works just like it already does in the Top/Side List view)

 

EN-Mac-Sort-Indicator.png

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Frank.dg

Frank.dg 1,385

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Actually... there is no problem with bringing on the feature in question. What I'm saying is that it's not all that it's cracked up to be when one thinks through your workflow(s) in general. It's not that much of an advantage, for the reasons stated and the scenarios I described. 

 

Now... if it had to be implemented as in your mock-up, that's another story. Preset sorting orders for different notebooks would be just a tad bit less inconvenient (i.e. a little easier to rectify in specific use cases). But not totally off the hook. I suggested exactly the same in this thread I started here (but for ease of access):

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/79598-feature-request-sorting-options-customization-on-desktop-note-list-toolbar/#entry335460

 

I'd love to be able to customize the note list toolbar with specific sorting options, which would make things lightning fast. Especially on Windows, which is a little clunky compared to Mac. Mac enables one to set the sorting order (ascending/ descending) for each sorting option - which makes it a couple of extra steps swapping between sort orders on Windows. So the idea you've presented above is brilliant. Exactly what I would like to see. AND it would be more visual, as in one can see at a glance by looking at those sorting options in the toolbar what you're sorting by... as opposed to looking at your note titles in relation to one another to figure it out. But still, the points I raised had nothing to do with ease of access to sorting options... but more to do with being able to get a sorting order other than the preset/ default/ remembered sorting order (with the proposed feature), without having to toggle each time the default sorting order for a specific notebook is not what I want, even though it may be my general preference - Specifically if I am wanting to sort by a specific order across all notebooks for a specific use case.

 

If you read my first post here, my concern was twofold: (1) Evernote remembering a fixed sorting option each and every time you accessed a certain notebook so that if you were in admin mode and were trying to sort by "Date Updated" across multiple notebooks that were otherwise set to individual miscellaneous sorting orders, and having the sort order reverted back to your general preference each time you selected the notebook once again. (2) On the other hand, if the sorting order did not automatically sort to the predefined sorting order each time a specific notebook is accessed and instead simply remembered your last sorting option for that notebook, one would then have to remember to sort it back to the general preference for viewing a list of notes. The point I was getting at is that one does not necessarily always stick to a specific sorting option with a specific notebook... even if one has a general preference. So having predefined sorting orders for different notebooks, whether Evernote remembers the last sorting order or the default sorting order is not all it's cracked up to be if one fully thinks through their workflow(s).

 

I do like the setup you gave us in your image created above. That would be awesome. I want that. But not have Evernote default to a specific sorting order with specific notebooks, nor remember the last option chosen. When one is working with multiple workflows across multiple notebooks, it would be easier to simply see the sort order in the toolbar (or otherwise be conscious of it) on a global scale. 

 

Your mock-up suggests 2 different dynamics: (1) Ease of access to sorting options and (2) (inferred by way of this topic) preset sorting options for individual notebooks. 

 

I understand exactly what you're getting at... and no, it would not be a PITA to have things set up that way. Just not ideal. I don't think you've run through the scenario I gave in my earlier post and therefore, perhaps, do not understand what I'm getting at.

 

So let me pose this scenario: Evernote brings in preset sorting for individual notebooks as a new feature. Fine and well. Now what I want to do right now is hop from one notebook to another having all of the notes for each sorted by "Date Updated" or "Date Created" because I'm trying to see the last notes edited or created in each, BUT... because of the new feature just implemented, as I move from one notebook to another, each either defaults to the preset sorting order OR remembers the last sorting order for that notebook. So what I have to then do is (and once again, not a biggie) change the sort order as and when needed after I see that in fact not all notebooks are sorting to the global sort order that I would like. True, having sorting options displayed in the note toolbar would make things quicker to toggle - but I would still have to toggle nonetheless.

 

Question: could you tell me how to get around the scenario just mentioned in the previous paragraph? I'm all for learning new stuff. I just see the situation posed as a potential annoyance for a very real workflow I have (not imagined).

 

I think this is a very valid and reasonable argument against preset/ default sorting orders for specific notebooks - unless there was a global sorting order preference you could flip the switch for. So Evernote would have to make extra provisions for the proposed feature if implemented. PLUS you would have to remember that you flipped a global sorting order switch, much like when on Windows desktop you switch the search bar over to "Search all Notes", but forget that you've done so, or if you've inadvertently done it, you can't for the life of you figure how to fix until someone from the forums points it out to you. The fact is that with every single one of the notebooks I need to view according to "Title" in ascending order - I often need to reverse sort the order or switch over to "Date Updated" quite often. I don't always want to look at a chronological list in chronological order. Most of the time, yes. But not always. So my general preference, if preset, would actually create additional steps to follow through with when my secondary preference is called for (across multiple notebooks). There are tons of applications/ reasons for the above-mentioned scenario.

 

There's got to be some merit to this. Admit it  :angry:

 

EDIT: One has to "imagine a problem that isn't there", because often we imagine having a feature but do not fully think through the implications thereof  :P

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jefito

jefito 5,598

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Frank, allow me to say how happy I am since you joined the forum...now I don't feel nearly as bad about my longer posts...

That's OK, I'm posting shorter to keep the balance... :)

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Frank.dg

Frank.dg 1,385

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+1

 

I could solve several of my issues by dividing the notes into separate notebooks, if I could create a different sort for each.

 

Thanks for considering it.

:)

 

Do you ever switch between sorting options with individual notebooks?

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TdeV

TdeV 89

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Do you ever switch between sorting options with individual notebooks?

 

 

No. Do you mean switch to another saved search? That is quite cumbersome actually (if one has a lot of saved searches--too many for the small pop-up window).

 

Unless you mean something else?

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Frank.dg

Frank.dg 1,385

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Do you ever switch between sorting options with individual notebooks?

 

 

No. Do you mean switch to another saved search? That is quite cumbersome actually (if one has a lot of saved searches--too many for the small pop-up window).

 

Unless you mean something else?

 

 

Nope... I mean switch from, say, sort by "Title" to "Date Updated" in the same notebook. Viewing vs. admin/ reviewing perhaps. I do this all the time.

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lykoz

lykoz 147

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-1 for this suggestion  :P. See long-winded post #46.

 

... although, +1 for @JMichael's post #46 note-list toolbar setup.

 

I actually agree with everything you have to say there... It makes sence and is logical...

 

 I understood the thread starters opening post differently... (Obviously you outlined what he really meant, and I probably misunderstood.... However if you read the post again with my thinking, it can make sense)

 

I just want the ability to Drag and Drop my stacks and notebooks in any order I chose... And for them to stay there without having to rename them Alphabetically... or put wierd prefixes like --> ->

 

Everything you say about sorting many notebooks is completely valid... We can sort the notes in different ways (This should be made easier maybe)...

 

Sorting out Notebooks in different ways is not a good idea as you mentioned...

 

I just wanted the ability to drag and drop... And sort them out the way I want, and then leave them there... Without having my sorting order necessarily be alphabetical... Rather Custom... (put everything the way I want it - And then leave it there)

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Frank.dg

Frank.dg 1,385

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Sorting notebooks in different ways is great... I was just running through the implications of having certain notebooks preset to sort by a specific sort order every time, or else remember the last sort order used. That would inevitably necessitate toggling when one needs to sort a notebook that they ordinarily like to sort and view by "Title" to, say, "Date Updated" when they need to easily locate, well, the last note updated (or created) within the same notebook.

 

It would be a royal PITA if I wanted to sort multiple notebooks globally by, say, "Date Updated" for a specific use case, even if most of the time I prefer to sort half of them according to "Title". I'd have to make sure that I'm sorting by "Date Updated" every time, which would be rather clunky. 

 

This feature request, in theory, is brilliant. In practice... it's another story. That's why I asked @TdeV in a subsequent post "Do you ever switch between sorting options with individual notebooks?" I'm actually posing the question to all users...

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Frank.dg

Frank.dg 1,385

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I think the idea got lost in my long-winded essay, which most people are not inclined to read. I wouldn't. Although... my original caveat (post #40) was much a little shorter. I just had to explain myself in more detail after that post was laughed down and brushed off.   :lol: -->  :( -->  :angry:

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ChrisE

ChrisE 1

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I don't know if posting here will add to the chances of this ever being implemented, but I'm going to add my voice to the crowd just in case. I have many use cases where this would be desirable. For the sake of brevity I'm not going to list them all here, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who would find this really useful.

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RightPaddock

RightPaddock 34

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To address the issue of what to do about searches across multiple notebooks which could have different sort orders.

 

Put the search results into a virtual notebook which would have have its own sort order - with a default to date.

 

Not sure how this would fit with saved searches but no doubt it would probably need to

 

rp

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JMichaelTX

JMichaelTX 4,118

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There could be a default sort for searches across Notebooks.

 

To me, Saved Searches are much like the Outlook Smart Folders, so it would be great to have a custom, multi-level sort stored with the Saved Search.

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lykoz

lykoz 147

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There could be a default sort for searches across Notebooks.

 

To me, Saved Searches are much like the Outlook Smart Folders, so it would be great to have a custom, multi-level sort stored with the Saved Search.

 

You were talking about 'bloat' on another thread....

This is the perfect example of bloat.

 

There could be... But there shouldn't be.

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Frank.dg

Frank.dg 1,385

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There could be a default sort for searches across Notebooks.

To me, Saved Searches are much like the Outlook Smart Folders, so it would be great to have a custom, multi-level sort stored with the Saved Search.

Then you would have to have a default sort for search across notebooks for multiple sort orders... Which is what we have right now.
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Frank.dg

Frank.dg 1,385

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To address the issue of what to do about searches across multiple notebooks which could have different sort orders.

Put the search results into a virtual notebook which would have have its own sort order - with a default to date.

Not sure how this would fit with saved searches but no doubt it would probably need to

rp

I don't think that would be useful for most people in most cases.

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JMichaelTX

JMichaelTX 4,118

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Most database queries that I have used include the option of providing a sort order.  This is very powerful.

A database query is the same thing as a EN Saved Search, except the EN Saved Search is much more limiting.

 

Storing the sort order with the Saved Search would be, IMO, VERY useful to many users.

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Frank.dg

Frank.dg 1,385

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Most database queries that I have used include the option of providing a sort order. This is very powerful.

A database query is the same thing as a EN Saved Search, except the EN Saved Search is much more limiting.

Storing the sort order with the Saved Search would be, IMO, VERY useful to many users.

Sure… But putting the search results across multiple notebooks into their own "virtual notebook" has no bearing on what most people are trying to achieve when they sort notes in a notebook by any particular sort order.
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JMichaelTX

JMichaelTX 4,118

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Most database queries that I have used include the option of providing a sort order. This is very powerful.

A database query is the same thing as a EN Saved Search, except the EN Saved Search is much more limiting.

Storing the sort order with the Saved Search would be, IMO, VERY useful to many users.

Sure… But putting the search results across multiple notebooks into their own "virtual notebook" has no bearing on what most people are trying to achieve when they sort notes in a notebook by any particular sort order.

 

 

It seems that the discussion has evolved into two requests:

  1. Specifying a sort order for each Notebook
  2. Specifying a sort order across all Notebooks, including Saved Searches.

I was addressing #2.

 

The point is that, for many users, it is very useful to specify a sort order along with the Search.  This is pretty standard.

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Kenny3

Kenny3 0

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Some of you guys are seriously way off here.

 

Allowing a "sort: title asc" (or whatever) to a saved search puts all the power into the hands of the creator of the search. If they want the default search order, they get it, if they don't, they don't. NO skin of any of your backs, and that would NOT add much bloat to the system; that's a lame excuse of trying to sway the PMs away from this idea. It's a very useful feature for those of us that have the need for each search to have a sort order.

 

Defaults for notebooks is moot, when you can accomplish the same with a saved search with an extended grammar.

 

I want my tools to be transparent. Until I get a sort grammar for searches, this tool will continually interrupt my workflow.

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JMichaelTX

JMichaelTX 4,118

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What a brilliant idea!   Now, why didn't someone think of that before?   :D

 

Oh, wait, they did.  It's called SQL, and it's been around for decades.

Not only that, but every other database system/app that I have used let's the user (optionally) specify the sort order.

 

Come on, Evernote, get with the program.   ;)

 

 

Allowing a "sort: title asc" (or whatever) to a saved search puts all the power into the hands of the creator of the search. If they want the default search order, they get it, if they don't, they don't. NO skin of any of your backs, and that would NOT add much bloat to the system; that's a lame excuse of trying to sway the PMs away from this idea. It's a very useful feature for those of us that have the need for each search to have a sort order.

 

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jason54

jason54 5

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I just want to +1 the "sort differently for different notebooks" request — the Mac Finder does this to certain extent, remembering what view setting and order you have for different folders (and retaining them when you close and open)  and spotlight search does not short-circuit as a result.   At least give the user the option to work this way — I haven't been using Evernote as long as some people here, but a lot of it  sometimes feels like you're shackled into Evernote's Way a little too often.  

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Martin C

Martin C 2

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+1

this feature would be a huge helpt to me as I have some notebooks where I want  to sort by date updated and some notebooks where I want to sort by date created. Switching sorting order manually dozens of times a day is just to troublesome...

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tomwolsky

tomwolsky 1

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Currently it seems if I set a notebook to sort based on the note name that's the sort order for all my notebooks. I would really like if some netbooks could be sorted by name and others by date created, and others by date updated. Would really like this setting to be notebook specific rather than application wide.

 

Thanks.

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DTLow

DTLow 5,744

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15 minutes ago, tomwolsky said:

Currently it seems if I set a notebook to sort based on the note name that's the sort order for all my notebooks.

See the discussion linked below
This feature has already been implement in Windows.
I implemented my own version on my Mac using Applescript, documented here

 

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